Veterans share their experiences

Sunday

Nov 11, 2012 at 6:00 AMNov 11, 2012 at 2:25 PM

By Lynne Klaft CORRESPONDENT

There are vivid images of the Vietnam War that Americans will never forget — Buddhist monks setting themselves on fire, a naked child running away from a napalm attack, a student putting flowers in the rifle barrels of National Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., and a student dying on the Kent State campus during a protest.

The Worcester Art Museum hosted “Intergenerational Conversations with U.S. Veterans” yesterday afternoon, alongside an exhibition of photographs, “Kennedy to Kent State: Images of a Generation.”

“The photographs date from 1958 to 1974; it was a time of civil rights, politics, music, art; the major facet was the Vietnam War. We thought we should have those veterans who experienced the times as part of the discussion, as well as show our sincere appreciation of those who served,” said Cory Shepherd, the museum's outreach coordinator.

Phil Madaio was a 19-year-old draftee of the war who found it was tough to come back home in 1967 after spending a year on search-and-destroy missions.

“When I got home, my mother threw a party and wanted me to wear the uniform. It was the only time that I wore the uniform, just for her. And then you hung around with guys who didn't go. Legions didn't want you; they thought we were strange,” said Mr. Madaio of Auburn. He is a member of the Worcester Vietnam Veterans for the Community and is president of the Massachusetts Vietnam War Memorial.

His buddy did not fare as well. His wife did not meet him at the airport as planned, and when he finally got home he found all of his clothes and possessions thrown out on the front lawn, the locks on his front door changed.

Norm DeLap was in Vietnam in 1964 and never fired a shot. “But you know what, you didn't tell anyone you served there, because you were a 'baby killer.' I was a gate guard, inspected the things that the Vietnamese brought in when they came to work. These were hard-working folks who just wanted to exist. When Saigon fell, I had tears in my eyes; I knew the people there,” he said.

Both men agreed that television news, and the sometimes horrific images portrayed, played a big part in the conceptions and misconceptions that people back home had of the war.

“Vietnam was the first war to be a television event. It was on the news every night,” said Mr. DeLap, adding that he thought the images of protesters were key to the North Vietnamese victory.

The photographs in the exhibition are part of the museum's permanent collection, donated by Howard G. Davis III to recall and reflect upon his memories of the era, and include instantly recognizable images of Jane Fonda wearing a helmet in North Vietnam, Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing Bay Lop (a Viet Cong guerilla), protesters at Kent State, the My Lai massacre and the last helicopter flight out of Saigon.

The exhibition includes the American home front with shots of the assassinations of President Kennedy and his brother Robert, Martin Luther King, Ken Kesey's Magic Bus, Timothy Leary, Mick Jagger, Marilyn Monroe, Malcolm X, Bob Dylan, the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, 300,000 strong at Woodstock, Janis Joplin, the Beatles and more.

Barbara Roberts was a military wife for 30 years and says that wives, mothers and children were affected by the Vietnam War as well.

“I am against any war now. I saw my family divided — my father for the war, my mother against, my brother spit on when he wore his uniform to a restaurant. War is brutal and cruel; there should be another way. And people should know about this,” she said.

Judith De Soto Vega's brother was a veteran against the war, telling her only little snippets of what happened to him there.

“He'd tell us a few stories. And he was exposed to Agent Orange. He's dead now,” said Ms. De Soto Vega.

Ms. Roberts said that during the Vietnam War people saw what was happening on their television sets every evening on the nightly news.

“Now you don't see anything. War is a national responsibility, all of our responsibility as citizens, not just the guy who has to go,” she said.